Cheviot Value Management LLC Sells 7,642 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cheviot Value Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 72,387 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,642 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 78,212 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,225,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 80,287 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,311,000 after buying an additional 2,149 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 23,122 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 74.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 162,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,698,000 after buying an additional 69,328 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.91.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.26 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05. The stock has a market cap of $186.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.82.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).